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I have a quick question on my 135 Watt Lionel PH-1 Power House Power Supply.

 

The PowerHouse Plug has three female ports/inputs.

 

The top (rounded) port appears to be empty/unused.

 

Is the middle port the positive/hot connection and the bottom port the negative/neutral connection?

 

Also, is there any reason why I shouldn't connect the respective positive and negative connections to a Terminal Strip....once I find a way to do so?

 

Thanks for your time!

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The middle terminal is hot on my 180w brick, I presume the 135 should be the same. Lionel  sells a cable set  6-14194 so you don't have to cut the plug off. It includes a plug with spade connectors on the opposite end.

 

Lionel cable set

 

 

The terminal strip is fine, my brick is connected to a TPC unit, the TPC unit is connected to an MTH terminal strip and buss and feeders go out from there.

 

I recommend using at least 16 or 14 ga wire. I ran 14 ga buss and feeders and only have 4 pairs of feeders on each of my 10'x16' loops. Power delivery is consistent throughout, same at the track as it is at the terminal strip.

 

 

Last edited by RickO

I don't know about which pin is which on the plug. At one time I did, but haven't had to think about since I retired my ZW a few years ago.

 

The only time I would think you would want to put the wires onto a terminal block is if you run entirely TMCC (or Legacy), or if you happened to want to run more than one Powermaster or TPC with it.

 

If you want to hook it up to a terminal block without cutting the factory plug, Lionel used to make a cable set for hooking up TPCs to multiple Powerhouses. I don't recall the catalog number, but it was around  ten to fifteen bucks. It includes the female jack with about 6" of wire.

 

Hope this helps,

 

J White

 

PoHo with spade lugs soldered on and connected to a plate-jumpered railpower distribution Terminal Strip. Green code is Hot, White is Common]

 

The same on another T-strip with a TVS connected across the Hot and Common.

 

On the PoHos, when one cuts off the plug and divides the lamp cord type secondary output conductor into its two wires[Hot and Common], the insulated wire with the "telltale" ridge running alongside is the Common and the smooth half is the Hot. And yes,Hot is the middle wire on the factory plug.

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Last edited by Dewey Trogdon

Guns & BP,

   What you say is true however the old KW is voltage/handle controllable with the levers, no brick is, I use both the KW's and the ZW's all the time because of this handle voltage exacting control, never liked the bricks at all myself, to many running options lost with them.  Lots of other guys love them however.  Smart move to get rid of the CW-80's however you choose to do it. 

PCRR/Dave

Last edited by Pine Creek Railroad

I hear you, Pine Creek.  For now, I just needed to dump the CW-80s as they didn't have enough "juice" for my needs and I think they're only 5 Amps.  Getting both of my bricks up and running was just step one for me.

 

I use a terminal strip for each "loop".  Each brick is attached to its own loop/terminal strip right now.  I will eventually hook up some type of traditional transformer (probably my KW post-rebuild and in conjunction with a circuit breaker) up to each terminal strip.  This way, I can park my TMCC & Legacy locos on sidings that I've turned "off"....and with my bricks OFF, I can control each loop the traditional/old fashioned way.

Last edited by Berkshire President
A most curious Email sent....  
 
Originally Posted by gunrunnerjohn:

I can probably make you a good deal on the MRC Pure Power Dual MRCU0601 transformer if you're looking for one.  I have one gathering dust on my shelf, and I have a Z-4000 right beside it, so I don't really need this one.  I'm using the bricks, and the MTH TIU gives me conventional operation.

 

 

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